A new twist in the email gate investigation has now resulted in the official resignation of a second member of the commission: Deputy Chairman of the Integrity Commission, Justice Sebastian Ventour.

Justice Ventour submitted his letter of resignation coming shortly after the resignation of another commission member, Dr Shelly-Ann Lalchan.

Speaking with reporters yesterday, Justice Ventour said the probe which was being conducted by the commission was terminated prematurely and did not get to the real substance of the investigation into email gate. He said the very press release that was issued to the public on the commission’s findings was incorrect.

Justice Ventour also said he was surprised that such a conclusion could have been made having regard to the scope of the email gate investigation.

Meanwhile we were also told that President Anthony Carmona will be making a statement on the Integrity Commissioner's resignation today.

Malaysia orders search and rescue for migrants

Prime Minister, Mrs. Kamla-Persad Bissesser, has called on the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs. Joan Honore-Paul to recuse herself from any involvement into the email gate affair.

In a statement earlier the Deputy DPP said both the Prime Minister and former Attorney General, Annan Ramloogan had not been cleared in the matter as a probe was still on-going arising out of emails the opposition leader read into the parliament.

The Prime Minister was speaking last evening at a cottage meeting in St. Augustine.

Mrs Vernella Alleyne-Toppin’s Statement in the House of Parliament on Dr. Keith Rowley

Mrs Vernella Alleyne-Toppin used the House of Parliament recently to voice one of the most denounced statements ever uttered by a Trinidadian or Tobagonian in Parliament over the fifty years of our nation’s independence.

Prayerplustt joins with the rest of the decent–minded and forward-looking public in condemning this statement and demanding that steps be taken to; 1) neutralise any effects or repercussions of it on the minds of the uninformed public and 2) to admonish this Minister in whatever form that is prescribed to uphold the dignity and reverence of the House and discourage any repeat of such disgrace. Her statement was invalid in both its truth and its perspective and very contemptuous in its intent.

First, the untruth of her statement was later attested to by all the involved parties whom she herself tried to implicate in her story.

Secondly, let us address the invalidity of her statement’s perspective. She holds the perspective that human conception, the circumstances under which a child is conceived, can be used as a measure to judge or establish the nature of the person born from that given conception. Society in the past was savage in its condemnation of children born outside of wedlock and children conceived under various conditions such as rape, incest, by children below the age of maturity, etc. The fate of such children was usually cast at the lowest expectation of any social success.

The Book of Genesis explains the whole reason for the fall of man due to his act of disobedience to God. From thenceforth God imputed the nature of sinfulness upon man, but overtime, through the preaching of his prophets offered man a way to salvation.

Subject to the Ministry of Jesus Christ, St Paul, in the Book of Romans draws us back to the plot of life from the beginning, when he says: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed to all men, for that all have sinned.....[1] He continues “therefore as by the offence of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation even so by righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Here we can establish that all conception is already tainted with sin, whether it is by marriage, rape, incest or otherwise. All birth circumstances still imputes sin to man and all sin we already know is really of equal intensity. The manner of conception through which we are born does not make us anymore righteous, this is clear. The path to righteousness is through grace, won from acceptance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mrs Alleyne-Toppin’s statement implying the moral deficiency of a person due to their circumstances of conception is spiritually invalid and unfounded in the Christian faith.

Finally, in pursuit of Mrs Alleyne -Toppin social intention or motivation for making her statement, it is our respectful view that the Hon Minister vilified the character and reputation of the Leader of the Opposition. For a Minister of Government to be invoking the conditions of conception (already determined to be erroneous) on someone of any ilk or station, as a measure to judge or establish the nature of the person , within the society that they (the Minister) are in fact a custodian for, is quite unfortunate and demands a total and unreserved apology to all similarly situated persons and, by extension, to people of Trinidad and Tobago.

About ParayersPlustt

PrayersPlustt is a Christian entity recently established to engage in business that will further the objectives of the Church and was formed as an output from the symposium – Meeting of Christian Leaders to Find Solution for Crime in Trinidad and Tobago